Consequences
by Velkyn Karma
Summary: Savers/Data Squad. Sometimes, there are consequences to punching out giant monsters with big teeth and claws. Features Masaru, Tohma, and some Yoshino. Friendship only; no pairings. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

**Consequences**

A fanfiction by Velkyn Karma

**Summary:** _(Digimon Savers/Digimon Data Squad)_ Sometimes, there are consequences to punching out giant monsters with big teeth and claws. Features Masaru, Tohma, and some Yoshino. Friendship only; no pairings.

**Note:** Written because there's a depressing lack of _Savers_ fics, and even less of them are adventure-y goodness, so I wanted to do the poor season a little justice. Also written because, much as I like watching Masaru punch out fifty-foot-tall monsters, you'd think it'd eventually backfire on him.

I'm using Japanese names and _terminology_ because that's the version I watched (Ex. Adult vs. Champion). However Japanese _vocabulary_ has been replaced with its English equivalent (ex. switching Agumon's use of 'aniki' to 'boss').

**Warnings:** Rated T for some language and mildly graphic descriptions of injuries. Also takes place pre-Mercurymon and pre-Piyo/Biyomon, some place between episodes 11 and 12, but contains mild spoilers for Tohma's backstory.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own, or pretend to own, _Digimon Savers_ or any of its subsequent characters, plots or other ideas. That right belongs solely to Bandai and Toei Animation. The only thing that belongs to me here is the concept for the story.

* * *

Tohma felt his boots touch down on springy, artificial grass, and slowly opened his eyes. He kept his expression neutral, businesslike, but inwardly he gave himself a quiet _job well done_ at the sight before him. His calculations and altercations on the Dive equipment since his last visit had been one hundred percent correct. They were now in the Digital World.

He glanced around briefly, and was rewarded with the knowledge that his capacity calculations had been correct as well; the others were with him, just like'd programmed. Gaomon stood faithfully at his side as always, and Masaru, Yoshino, and their digimon stood only a few paces apart. Yoshino looked a bit dazed—acceptable enough, Tohma decided, since this was her first visit to the world—but they both looked safe and all in one piece, which was the important thing. Portal calculations could be extremely dangerous, and the slightest error in the equations and coding could mean that not _all_ of a person was downloaded when they were converted to data and transferred to the Digital World.

Not that Tohma doubted his calculations. He was touted as a genius, after all, and he was absolutely certain that he hadn't made a mistake with the numbers. But still, it was nice to have a little reassurance, especially when Digital Diving already had enough hazards as it was.

"Right," Masaru said. "Let's find this guy already! A man shouldn't run away from his fights, and we've gotta teach him that the hard way."

"You got it, Boss!" Agumon cheered enthusiastically. He darted after his human partner as Masaru bolted across the field they'd entered at for the forest beyond.

"Masaru, wait for us!" Yoshino shouted after him, finally recovering from her shock of seeing the Digital World for the first time. She hefted the small supplies bag that had been shoved at her just before the Dive more firmly over her shoulder, and ran after DATS' most spontaneous member, with Lalamon floating protectively after.

"That idiot," Tohma said with a sigh. "I bet he doesn't even know what direction our target went in." He shook his head as he pulled his palmtop free, already beginning to run searches based off of the creature's energy and data signals that they'd discovered in the human world. Then he ordered, "Gaomon, first we catch up to the others before Masaru can take us any further in the wrong direction. Then we begin legitimately tracking, so be on the alert for any threats."

"Yes, Master!" his digimon acknowledged, as they charged after the others.

Truth be told, for all of Masaru's impatience, he was right in one regard: haste was of the essence. That was why they had risked taking another Digital Dive in the first place, although Captain Satsuma had been reluctant to allow it at first, with all the associated dangers. But as Tohma had effectively argued, the risk of allowing this digimon to run free had outweighed any potential risk factors of taking the Dive at all, and eventually even the captain had been forced to relent.

Not that any of them had expected to take a Digital Dive so suddenly at all. Originally everything had worked out the same as it always did at DATS. Headquarters had identified an angry Adult-level digimon on a rampage downtown at eight PM, and had immediately dispatched their three active field agents to take care of the matter. Tohma, Yoshino, Masaru, and their digimon had successfully tracked down and identified the attacker as Devidramon, and immediately recognized the danger of this particular digimon. It wasn't simply satisfied with destroying a few buildings or encouraging a human's darker emotions. It was a bloodthirsty, cunning brute, and appeared to feed on a human's _fear,_ not just their greed or malice. It was targeting civilians and almost gleefully tearing into their flesh with its large talons and sharp teeth, learning very quickly that pain generated the emotions it enjoyed most.

They had wasted no time engaging it, but it was more difficult than it seemed. Devidramon could fly, meaning Masaru couldn't even reach it to punch the creature and activate his Digisoul (for the hundredth time Tohma cursed his coworker's inability to simply charge a Digisoul by _conventional_ means). It meant GeoGreymon couldn't help with the battle, and while Gaogamon was just as strong he was also just as grounded as Masaru was. But despite the difficulties of the fight they had been winning—until the creature let out a cackling hiss, and unexpectedly whirled, disappearing into a Digital Gate in the air that hadn't been there thirty seconds previously.

They tried to stop it, but there was nothing they could do. Only Sunflowmon was capable of reaching the Gate at all, but the Devidramon had disappeared into it too quickly, and by the time she'd reached the space in the air it was already gone. Masaru cursed and challenged the creature repeatedly, but it didn't return, and that was when Tohma realized they had a problem.

Because Devidramon was far too dangerous to let go, even _without_ the DATS regulations of reducing all digimon to eggs before returning them to their own world. The creature was too bloodthirsty and vicious, and already had a taste for human flesh and human fear. It knew what humans were and weren't capable of now, and if left to its own devices, it would eventually return for more—and when it did, the damage, and the casualties, would be enormous.

That was why Tohma had argued for an immediate Digital Dive, and why the captain had eventually granted the request. Devidramon had to be dealt with on their terms, not its own, and certainly before it brought news of its conquest back to its allies in the Digital World. There was no other way, even if the Dive itself was dangerous.

Not that they were going into the Digital World completely unprepared. There hadn't been time to prepare advanced equipment for tracking, or organizing the generation of a new Gate based on their coordinates. But Captain Satsuma _had_ insisted they take a few supplies with them, and Megumi had gotten up from her console long enough to shove a small backpack into Yoshino's hands, containing a communicator, a pre-packed first aid kit, canteens of water, and some snacks to keep the energy of the digimon up. With such a dangerous digimon, the captain had insisted, it was better to remain prepared. He also informed them that they would have one night to search for and defeat the Devidramon, but that at five AM sharp they _must_ return to their entry point into the Digital World. At that time a new gate would be generated for them to return, regardless of whether or not the creature was defeated.

All things considered, it was a sound plan—as prepared as they could be, given the rushed circumstances. Now, Tohma thought, all they had to do was _find_ the digimon, and beat it within the allotted time frame.

But such a thing was easier said than done, and Devidramon was apparently far more clever than it had initially let on. Tohma wasn't sure what had tipped the creature off (although he'd be willing to bet it had something to do with Masaru's challenging shouts, he thought irritably), but it was soon clear the digimon was well aware of the fact that it was being tracked. And with that knowledge it began leading them on a wild goose chase, zigging and zagging, doubling back, looping around, taking the DATS agents and their partners in circles again and again as it toyed with them and waited for them to exhaust themselves. They travelled for hours while following the creature, and Agumon began complaining bitterly about his feet hurting and being hungry. Yet when Tohma checked his palmtop and the map he'd been logging, they really hadn't travelled very far at all from their entry point.

Something about that unsettled him. The creature was playing with them, and that stank of a trap, but there was nothing they could do about it but be on their guards. He cautioned Gaomon and the others, and even Masaru accepted the warning, though he complained angrily about how _real_ fighters wouldn't even bother with traps and tricks.

The warning served them all well, though. When the Devidramon finally tired of toying with them around one in the morning, and finally appeared before them in a wide clearing in the forest, it was soon obvious that they had indeed sprung a trap. Because the creature had brought friends, two more Devidramon, smaller than their original quarry but no less dangerous for it. All three bristled with hungry anticipation, the claws on their long arms flexing and gleaming, their whip tails lashing, and their enormous jaws opened wide as they slavered and flapped their torn wings in excitement.

"Damn," Tohma muttered under his breath. One Devidramon alone had been difficult to fight; three were serious trouble, especially in such an enclosed location like the forest clearing. Nothing about the situation was favorable for them.

They would just have to control the situation as best they could, then. Concentrating and snapping deftly, a procedure so familiar by now he could do it in his sleep, he summoned his Digisoul and transferred the energy to his digivice. He could see Yoshino doing the same only a few paces away. The extra energy was translated to data and passed to their digimon, causing them to grow exponentially, and within seconds Gaomon and Lalamon were gone, replaced by their much larger and more dangerous Adult forms.

The smaller two Devidramon seemed surprised by the unexpected evolution of their opponents, and shrank back a little. Tohma, recognizing a weakness when he saw it, ordered, "Gaogamon! The furthest to the right. Now!"

"Yes, Master!" came his digimon's much deeper, growling Adult voice, and he launched himself forward instantly. Yoshino and Sunflowmon, picking up on the strategy, immediately made for the other smaller Devidramon flanking their real quarry, hoping to take out the weaker links first before dealing with the real threat. Tohma nodded in satisfaction; they still had a reasonable chance in this battle.

Then he frowned, because as always Masaru was impossible to calculate for, and like always, he decided to do something completely unexpected and very, very stupid. "So you brought friends, so what!" the hot-blooded teen challenged their main target, cracking his knuckles. "That doesn't change anything. We've still got a fight to finish, and I'll definitely beat you no matter how many friends you brought!" And he launched himself forward, leaping stunningly high into the air for a human, drawing his fist back as he aimed directly for the ugly dark digimon's masked head.

Agumon cheered, and Tohma grudgingly had to admit that for all his unpredictability Masaru _was_ a force to be reckoned with. He was utterly fearless as he hurled himself at the enormous dark dragon, and surprisingly quick, considering the creature he was up against. Not to mention powerful. Tohma had seen Masaru land punches on digimon before, and even now it still shocked him to see the enormous creatures recoil in surprise and genuine pain from the human so much smaller than they.

He fully expected to see the Devidramon shriek in surprise from that same quick, powerful force, which was why the hissing cackle that the digimon emitted as it laughed chilled him to the bone. Something wasn't right—

But before he could so much as open his mouth to shout a warning to Masaru, the creature reached out with one abnormally long arm, spread its claws wide, and slashed out at its attacker. Tohma heard a pained, gurgling yelp from Masaru, and unexpectedly the newest DATS agent was flung aside and smashed into the ground with a heavy sounding_ thud_. Red liquid shivered through the air and dripped from one of the Devidramon's claws, and the thing cackled all the more cruelly as it flexed its hand. Masaru hadn't even gotten close enough to attack it.

Tohma was stunned.

For a long, frightening moment, Masaru didn't move, and his body huddled frightfully still and limp on the grass before the target Devidramon. Tohma could only stare in shock, almost certain the other teen had been killed, and that was just _wrong_—sure, Masaru could stand to take a lesson or two in caution, but that didn't mean he deserved to _die_—

But then Agumon shrieked for his boss to get up, and threw himself in between his partner and the enemy digimon in a panic, claws spread wide. Masaru groaned and stirred, and Tohma breathed a sigh of relief without even realizing he'd been holding his breath, and heard Yoshino making an identical sigh of her own. Masaru had lived. Of course he had. That was just in his nature—

Then he saw, for the first time, the extent of the damage, and realized they were not out of danger yet.

The first thing he noticed was the blood. As Masaru slowly rolled onto his side and tried to lever himself up with one arm, Tohma became acutely aware that the springy, bright-green grass of the digital world was no longer bright or green where Masaru lay. Instead it was now a dingy, dull brownish-red, matted and sticky, from where blood was beginning to pool on the ground. Seconds later Masaru gasped and pressed his free hand to his stomach, and red liquid immediately began dripping over his fingers, indistinguishable from his torn red jumpsuit but all too obvious against his skin.

Tohma didn't need his medical degree to deduce what had happened. One of the Devidramon's claws had gashed Masaru's stomach open, and to judge by the amount of blood, not superficially. He couldn't tell how deep from here, but they could very well have already lost their coworker, if the wrong organs had been damaged. This was an exceedingly bad turn of events.

Masaru was panting hard now, and gritting his teeth against what was clearly a groan of pain only his pride was refusing to let him emit. Still cradling his wounded stomach with one hand, he tried to push himself to his knees with the other, struggling to rise.

"No!" Tohma yelled at him angrily, "Don't get up, you'll make it worse—"

But Masaru wasn't the type to listen to common sense, or the orders of a medical professional apparently, because he continued trying to get up, clutching at his damaged stomach as rivulets of blood dripped over his hand to the grass below. He'd succeeded in making it to his knees, and now tried to force himself to his feet, although his limbs were shaking badly with the effort, and his entire body swayed dizzily.

Devidramon seemed to take this as a challenge, or perhaps as a source of entertainment. Hit emitted the same cold, hissing cackle as before, and its red-drenched claws stretched downward for the injured human. Agumon valiantly attempted to deflect the creature's attack with several hastily spat _Baby Flames_, but the attacks of a Child level digimon were mere beestings to an Adult, and the Devidramon was undeterred.

Masaru wouldn't live through a second attack; of that much Tohma was sure. "Gaogamon!" he ordered sharply, even as he started to dash forward himself, "Intervene, quickly!"

"Yes, Master!" the massive akita acknowledged immediately. He abandoned his current opponent and launched himself at the largest of the Devidramon, head-butting the reaching claws out of the way seconds before they would have reached their target. The blood-slick talons cut thick furrows in the digital earth. Tohma felt the ground tremble at the impact, and Masaru wobbled unsteadily and crashed back onto his side with a gasp of pain. Then the Devidramon recoiled to the air, circling above as it considered the new development.

No time to consider it. They were in danger now; they would have to take the defensive instead of offensive, but agent survival always took priority. "Do not allow further approach," he ordered his digimon quickly. "Defense is paramount. Conclude the fight in five minutes, but do _not_ pursue or allow the enemy to close in. Following orders are to stand guard."

"Yes, Master!" Gaogamon acknowledged once again, and promptly crouched defensively in front of Agumon and the injured Masaru, keeping a wary eye on all three opponents. The target Devidramon kept its distance for the moment, circling above, but one of its fellows was not so clever, and encouraged by the scent of blood it darted forward. Gaogamon snapped at it and drove it back, then circled around to drive off the other smaller one as well, not unlike a sheepdog herding a flock. The two smaller Devidramon fell back, uncertain, and Gaogamon continued to trot back and forth, guarding the humans methodically.

Tohma didn't have much time to think about that, and he didn't need to either. Gaogamon would carry out his orders faithfully, and in the meantime, Tohma needed to look after Masaru. The other teen was struggling to get up again, but he was obviously in pain no matter how much he tried to shrug it off, and even standing was a monumental task.

"Stop that," he ordered sharply, and gripping Masaru's shoulders started to force him back down.

"What the hell are you—" Masaru began angrily, and tried to push Tohma's hands away. But his sentence cut off with a gasp and a groan, and he curled forward almost involuntarily, clutching harder at his stomach. Tohma used the opportunity to make him lay down again, and bent forward to examine the wound, wishing he had a pair of gloves.

"Here," said a voice next to him. Tohma turned and found Yoshino crouching beside him, holding out the backpack. She looked anxious, and was notably looking everywhere but the injury. "The first aid kit—"

Tohma tore the bag from her hands and pulled the kit free, rifling hastily through its contents as she spoke. "Sunflowmon's going to try and take down one of the Devidramon while Gaogamon guards, maybe we'll have more of a chance—"

Tohma nodded curtly and turned back to Masaru, who was (irritatingly enough) attempting to raise himself up on his elbows again, gritting his teeth. "What did I just tell you?" he snapped. "Stay still, you'll make it worse—"

"Don't see what you know about it," Masaru panted. "Gotta fight...thing needs a beat-down—"

Yoshino frowned. "You're in no condition to fight," she said, still sounding very, very worried. "Tohma's got a medical license, he knows what he's doing, and we'll take care of everything else—"

"No, I have to—"

"Agumon," Tohma ordered curtly—the digimon had been hovering nearby anxiously the whole time—"Hold his shoulders down. It's for his own good; he'll hurt himself more otherwise."

The poor digimon appeared quite frightened at the prospect. In some distant corner of Tohma's mind, he realized that it wasn't all that surprising. Agumon had never seen his human injured farther than a few bruises and a hurt pride, and probably considered Masaru invincible. This was a stunning new development that he didn't understand, one that threatened his partner, and that had to be terrifying. He looked anxious and undecided, but after a moment tentatively scooted over to sit at his partner's head, and with an apologetic, "Sorry, Boss," wrapped his claws over Masaru's shoulders and held him pinned to the digital earth.

Masaru did not seem happy with this development, but blood loss was already beginning to tell on him, and he seemed dazed. He tried to push one of Agumon's claws away, and glared in Tohma's general direction, but his attempts were weak and ineffectual.

Tohma ignored him and went to work. The first aid kit had a small package of sterile latex gloves, and he wasted no time pulling on a pair while issuing quick orders to Yoshino. "They gave us a communicator, right? Get in contact with Captain Satsuma immediately. We can't wait until they generate a Gateway for us at five. Masaru needs to get to a hospital _now._"

"Right," Yoshino said shakily. "I'll try to—"

She cut off as Tohma bent forward to examine the wound, prodding at it carefully as he tried to assess the damage. Bright red blood welled over his gloved fingers, and he heard Yoshino stumble away from them, followed seconds later by the sound of retching as she finally lost her dinner. Part of Tohma was sympathetic; he remembered his own unease when he'd first started studying for his medical license, and _he'd_ been expecting it. Yoshino was brave and smart, both important qualities for a DATS agent, but their opponents didn't bleed like this when they attacked, just reduced to eggs. It was probably an unfortunate new experience for her.

But there wasn't time to think about that. Like Gaogamon, she'd do her job as soon as she'd recovered, especially with a fellow agent's life on the line. Tohma's job was to make sure Masaru _had_ a life to keep on the line, long enough for them to get back to the real world, and real medical treatments.

So ignoring the sounds of battle all around him, he focused completely on the job at hand, examining the wound quickly and ignoring Masaru's pained groans and muted curses that were probably aimed in his general direction. The gash was approximately three inches across, and deep, though not as deep as Tohma had expected with the size of Devidramon's claws. It was bleeding badly, and more than just skin and muscle had been slashed; it looked like there was some intestinal damage as well. Not only that, but based on Masaru's breathing and the way he had landed, it seemed like at least a few ribs had been cracked or outright broken. A quick examination proved his suspicions to be true. It was definitely bad, and more than Tohma could treat effectively with just a standard first aid kit.

But for all that, Tohma realized, Masaru had been incredibly lucky. Intestinal damage and internal bleeding were dangerous, but survivable. If those claws had sliced only a few inches higher, or deeper, they could easily have punctured a major artery or more vital organs. Had that been the case, Masaru could very well have already been dead; there would have been nothing Tohma could do for him. At least he had a chance now—not a good one, but better than nothing. That was a start.

First things first, then—the bleeding had to be stopped, or at the very least slowed as much as possible. There was a thick roll of bandages in the first aid kit, and Tohma extracted them quickly, setting to work binding the injury as quickly and efficiently as possible. He enlisted Agumon's help with lifting Masaru just enough so that he could wind the bandages around tightly, eliciting an irritable but dazed complaint from Masaru, who didn't seem to see what all the damned fuss was about.

"Hush," Tohma told him, though not unkindly. It was a little easier to stay calm now that he'd identified the problem. "I told you, just stay still and take it easy."

Masaru muttered under his breath, but didn't seem able to find the strength to argue back, and eventually lapsed into a still silence as his digimon held him up. If only he could be this compliant _without_ a potentially life-threatening injury...

Tohma was just finishing with the dressing, and carefully helping Agumon lay his partner back down on the stained grass, when Yoshino staggered back with Sunflowmon drifting after her. She looked pale, and looked away from Tohma's blood-drenched gloves hastily. Her voice was shaky as she said four words that made his blood run cold.

"The communicator's not working."

* * *

And there's the first part.

As always with my fanfiction, this story is already 100% written and will definitely be completed. So please just sit back and enjoy. :)

~VelkynKarma


	2. Chapter 2

**Consequences**

Part two of a fanfiction by Velkyn Karma

**Disclaimer:** I do not own, or pretend to own, _Digimon Savers_ or any of its subsequent characters, plots or other ideas. That right belongs solely to Bandai and Toei Animation. The only thing that belongs to me here is the concept for the story.

* * *

Tohma felt ice grip at his heart at the announcement. "What do you mean?" he asked urgently. If they couldn't get in contact with headquarters...

"I'm getting the same static signal as before, when you and Masaru came here last time," she reported quickly. "I couldn't find either of you before. Now I'm getting the same noise and blackout going _out_ that I got back _then,_ going in." She held up the communicator, displaying a screen filled with black and white snow.

Tohma felt the first edges of dread slip quietly into his mind, but he forced them back determinedly, willing himself not to panic. "Reconfigure and try again," he told her. "See if you can try a different frequency. We _can't_ stay here, we don't have that much time."

Judging by Yoshino's helpless look she'd already been trying such measures without success, and was hoping he'd have a different idea. But all she did was nod and say, "I'll keep trying," before moving on to the next order of business. "The fight's over. Sunflowmon and Gaogamon managed to take down the two smaller Devidramon, but the third one, our original target, escaped."

Blinking slightly, Tohma looked up briefly to scan the clearing. Yoshino was right—a pair of dark spotted eggs sat a short distance away, and Gaogamon stood guard like a sentinel dog nearby, ears pricked and alert for danger. That the third had run was unfortunate, especially since it was the same Devidramon they'd come for to begin with, but there was little they could do about that now.

Masaru seemed to disagree. He'd been fairly quiet apart from the occasional groan of pain, but at Yoshino's pronouncement he stirred and tried to push himself up again. His teeth ground in a grimace Tohma could practically hear—he _knew,_ from his studies, that Masaru had to be in agony at the moment, even if he was too prideful about his damned fighting to let on—and his expression was drawn and tight. But his voice was firm as he rasped, "We gotta go after him. Can't let him get away. Not good to leave a fight unfinished. S'why we're here, right?"

"Boss, I don't think that's a good idea," Agumon said anxiously, curling his claws around his partner's shoulders again to try and push him down. But he was tentative and afraid of hurting his human, and it did nothing.

Tohma was more firm about it, forcing Masaru back down yet again. "I told you," he said, with surprising patience considering the subject, "Stay still. If you move too much you'll bleed faster and you can't afford that."

"But the digimon—" Masaru protested, attempting to free his shoulders again from the combined grip of Tohma and his own digimon.

"We're aborting the mission," Tohma said flatly. "Agent survival_ always_ takes priority over the target missions. And as a medical professional I'm telling you it's absolutely critical you get to a medical facility _now_."

"What?" Masaru slurred. "No, no way, it's not_ that_ bad, it's just a—" He paused as he shifted slightly, jarring the injury and forcing him to gasp, before valiantly finishing, "—just a scratch."

Tohma merely gave him a flat look, and Agumon said tentatively, "Boss, you can't even sit up without my help...I don't understand humans, but that means it's more than just a scratch, right?"

"You're absolutely right," Tohma informed him cooly.

"Okay, _fine,_" Masaru hissed painfully. "Whatever, so maybe I can't fight. I'll be f-fine, just leave me here with Agu...Agumon, we'll be okay." And although it clearly pained him with every fiber of his being, both mentally and physically, he added, "You guys should go ahead and beat it...it's not good to l-let a fight go unfinished like th...that."

"You can't even walk on your own," Tohma said flatly, as he pried off the bloodstained latex gloves and stuffed them in a plastic bag for disposal. "How do you expect to get out of here alive? You can't evolve Agumon in that state, either, so you'd be a sitting duck. No, we're _all_ going. We'll return for the Devidramon later once we've gotten you to a hospital." Packing the first aid kit quickly, he said more urgently over his shoulder to Yoshino, "Any luck with headquarters?"

"None," Yoshino said helplessly. "Nothing's getting through, no matter what I try."

Tohma kept his expression neutral, in control, but inside he was screaming in frustration. This was _extremely_ bad. At this rate it was looking as though they wouldn't be able to call for an immediate Digital Gate after all. That meant they'd have to wait until the pre-arranged Digital Gate approximately four hours from now, and quite frankly Tohma wasn't sure if Masaru could last that long—especially without decent supplies, or a blood transfusion. Already he was showing signs of blood loss; with the placement of the wound, Tohma wasn't sure he'd be able to stop it. Masaru need a hospital, not a field first aid kit.

_But there's nothing I can do about that,_ the coolly logical half of him deduced. _The facts are as they are. Now devise a plan based around them._

"Alright," he said aloud, after a moment of thought. "If we can't leave until the pickup Gate at five, that means we're just going to have to make our current situation as favorable as possible for us. This place is too open, and too dangerous."

Turning to his digimon, he gave his orders. "Gaogamon, I need you to scout ahead. Be careful, and avoid confrontations, because I won't be there to help you. Head back to our entry point—" he gestured in the correct direction based off his palmtop's map—"and scout for a location that is safe, relatively clean, defensible, near a source of water, near a source of fuel for fires, and within five minutes' traveling distance to the Gateway's point. Leave at once."

"Yes, Master," the enormous blue akita said solemnly. He gave Agumon an almost pitying look, and then lunged into the tree line, disappearing in the direction they'd first arrived from.

"What do we do?" Agumon asked anxiously. "I want to help Boss get better! How do I help?" He still had his claws wrapped carefully over his partner's shoulders, although by this point it didn't seem to matter. Masaru was starting to act lethargic, and lacked his usual fiery energy; Tohma doubted he'd be trying to get up on his own any more for the time being.

"What we're doing now is moving," Tohma decided crisply. "This place still isn't safe, and that Devidramon could come back any minute, especially if it realizes we're down two digimon. We'll head in the direction of the Gate access point for now, and Gaogamon can find us later to lead us to the place he finds." He was confident that his digimon would be successful in that, at least.

"How do we move Masaru?" Yoshino asked, looking worried. She was still fiddling with the communicator in one hand, stubbornly trying to get the thing to work even if they both knew at this point it was useless.

Tohma considered, and finally looked over at Yoshino's digimon. She was still in her Adult form as Sunflowmon, and he realized that having digimon partners gave them a few advantages at least. They didn't have a stretcher, but a digimon could carry a human effortlessly when Adult.

"Sunflowmon," he addressed. The strange flower-dinosaur-fairy digimon crouched lower to acknowledge him, and Tohma asked, "Can you carry him in your hands? Keeping him as flat as possible," he added, modeling with his own human hands.

"I think so," Sunflowmon said. "As long as Yoshino makes sure I don't change back to Lalamon."

"I can keep my Digisoul up," Yoshino promised with a determined nod. "If that's what it takes."

Sunflowmon drifted over to the prone Masaru and his frightened partner. She looked more than a little anxious herself, with a surprising amount of expression for a creature with a flower for a head, and asked, "I'm not going to...to _hurt_ him if I pick him up, am I?" She seemed just as thrown off at the thought of _Masaru_ being hurt as Agumon did.

"We don't have a choice," Tohma said. "Just be very careful, and make sure he stays laying flat. Elevating him or sitting him up could make the bleeding worse."

Sunflowmon's large leaf hands trembled with nervousness as she reached for the injured human, but for all her worries she was infinitely gentle as she slid her half-formed fingers underneath his body and lifted him up from the sticky digital dirt. Still, Masaru gasped as he was moved, and writhed slightly as Sunflowmon's hands shifted beneath him, eliciting a frightened yelp from the digimon and a soft, "Oh, don't die, I didn't mean to do that!"

"Relax," Tohma said, supervising the whole operation. "He's going to be in pain, there's nothing we can do about that. You did a good job, now just hold him like that, and keep him as flat as possible, don't cup your hands if you can help it. Got it?"

"Yes," Sunflowmon said. Her hands weren't quite big enough for a full-grown human, and Masaru's feet and part of his legs hung over the edges of the leafy limbs. But as long as she kept her hands flat, with her fingers interlaced, it was almost like a stretcher—and better than anything else they had.

"Good," Tohma repeated. He could tell the poor digimon was afraid of hurting the human in her care further, and it was best to give her as much reassurance as possible. "We'll start walking back to the entry point now. Keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't do anything rash like try to go fight again, and let me know if he seems to get worse at all immediately."

Sunflowmon looked down at her charge and said with confusion, "Does he even know I'm carrying him? Masaru, are you okay?"

The teen stirred slightly at being addressed, although her question was a fair one; he didn't seem to quite realize he'd been transplanted from the ground to her hands. "Hol' on a sec," he slurred dazedly. "The world's kinda spinnin' an' I think the digi-sun just turned into a damned flower..."

Agumon bit his claws. "What's wrong with him?" he asked, frantic. "He's talking all funny now!"

"Loss of coherency," Tohma said, and at the little dinosaur's confused stare he clarified, "He's just out of it, it's normal. Now let's move, we can't afford to waste time. Agumon, if you want to help Masaru, keep an eye out for enemy digimon. If you sense one we need enough of a warning or a distraction for Sunflowmon to put Masaru down so she can defend us."

"R-right!" Agumon said, and although he still looked nervous his nod was determined. This was something he _did_ understand, and if it meant saving his partner, he'd do it and gladly.

So they started off, walking back towards the entry point they had used to begin this whole mess. Agumon darted forward and back, taking his guarding duties very seriously for once, and didn't even complain about being hungry. Yoshino followed, and kept the communicator on hand, trying it every five minutes without success. Sunflowmon flew in the middle of their little formation with her fragile burden, and Tohma stayed close by to keep an eye on his unexpected patient. Masaru wasn't causing much of a fuss now, which was both a blessing and a curse. It meant he wasn't trying to damage himself further out of sheer stupidity, but his dazed silence and tired, blank stare was more than a little unsettling. After only ten minutes Tohma was almost _wishing_ the idiot would start giving one of his spirits and fists rants for the sake of a little normalcy.

Gaogamon met up with them about twenty minutes after they'd left the fight-clearing. The large dog was panting heavily and obviously exhausted, but he didn't complain once. Instead, he reported, "Master, I found a place meeting all of your criteria. I can lead you to it at once."

"Good," Tohma said, inwardly grateful for the first good piece of news they'd had since they got here, but not letting on externally. "We can speed up our time with this. Sunflowmon, can you carry Masaru while flying faster?"

"I think so," she said slowly. "I've had some practice now."

"Alright," he said curtly. "Then the rest of us will ride on Gaogamon to pick up the pace."

The akita digimon obligingly crouched down to allow his passengers to climb on without argument. Tohma swung up into place with the ease of much practice, digging fingers into the Adult digimon's white mane. Yoshino clambered up less gracefully behind him, holding on to the back of his jacket for balance. But Agumon said anxiously, "Can I go with Boss, on Sunflowmon's hands?"

"No," Tohma said immediately. "She doesn't have any extra room, anyway. Her hands are _literally_ full with Masaru." And when the dinosaur still dithered worriedly, sidling towards his partner anyway, Tohma added, "Agumon, the longer you hold us up _here,_ the less time I have to treat Masaru at the safe location Gaogamon has found."

Agumon's eyes widened at the thought, and he wasted no more time. He clambered up onto Gaogamon's back and wrapped his claws around Yoshino's waist, holding on tightly as the large akita lumbered to its feet.

"This way," he informed Sunflowmon, and then he was off again, darting through the trees. Sunflowmon kept pace easily, cradling Masaru as gently as a mother might a child despite her surprising speed through the air.

With their travel time decreasing considerably, Tohma felt at least a little better about Masaru's chances. They still weren't very high, but at least Tohma could successfully treat him as best as possible in a safe location fairly soon, and that would at least give him a little bit of an edge. And Masaru was a fighter too, in spirit as well as in body; he wouldn't give in to such an injury easily. He could make it. Maybe.

He could tell the others were trying to think positive as well, though with varying stages of success. As soon as Yoshino had gotten used to Gaogamon's running gait, she'd let go of Tohma's jacket, and used the journey to keep at that damned useless communicator. It hadn't worked, but she insisted stubbornly that the signal might get through the closer they got to their original touchdown point. Anything was possible, so Tohma didn't deter her. And Agumon was clearly doing his best to not panic over his partner's health, although he couldn't suppress the occasional whimper whenever he looked behind or alongside and caught sight of Masaru's prone form in Sunflowmon's hands. Tohma would have told him to _stop_ looking if he was only making himself more anxious, but he honestly doubted the advice would be taken seriously anyway.

So they plowed on through the trees mostly in silence for a good ten minutes, other than the heavy, rhythmic footfalls of Gaogamon's paws as he moved steadily onward. Soon the trees began to thin out, indicating that they were reaching the edge of the wood; hopefully the shelter was nearby as well.

But Touma's grim feelings increased when Sunflowmon took advantage of the wider spaced trees and glided forward on leaf wings to flutter alongside Gaogamon, and the humans riding on his back. "Tohma," she said, "You told me to let you know if anything about Masaru changes—his bandages—"

Tohma glanced over at the body cradled carefully in her large hands. It was difficult to see clearly, moving at such a loping speed, but he frowned when he spotted it: the bandages he'd used to stop the bleeding of the wound were red and glistening. The attempt hadn't stopped the bleeding at all, or maybe it had, and the travel had just been too stressful on the wound. Whatever the case, Masaru needed attention as soon as possible. He didn't even appear fully conscious anymore—his eyes were open, but they were half-lidded, unfocused, and his skin looked too pale to be natural.

"Gaogamon, how long until we reach this location?" he questioned.

"Just a few minutes more, Master," the dog digimon responded immediately. He was panting hard, and his voice sounded raspy and tired, but as before he didn't complain.

"Hurry," Tohma said. "Masaru needs treatment immediately."

"Yes, Master," Gaogamon acknowledged, and despite his fatigue he managed to find still more strength to pour into running, picking up the pace even further. Sunflowmon soared after him, still cradling Masaru carefully.

Another five minutes passed, and then they broke out of the tree line completely into a rocky, mostly barren open area. There was a cliff a short distance away that Gaogamon was heading for unerringly, and a stream ran in front of it only a few yards away, with a few scruffy trees and bushes at its edge. As they closed in, Tohma spotted a dark crack cut into the cliff, large enough to be a cave, and realized with more than a little relief that they'd arrived at the safe location Gaogamon had scouted out.

And seconds later they were there. Gaogamon leapt lightly over the stream and landed just before the cave, before sinking flat to his belly to let his passengers off. He was panting hard, his furry chest heaving from exertion, and his tongue lolled out much like a real dog, but all he said was, "This is the place, Master."

"Good," Tohma said, as he and the others slid off. "You may return to your Child form and take a break. You've earned some rest. When you've recovered enough, start filling the canteens with water. We'll need it for disinfecting and cleaning the wounds."

"Yes, Master," his digimon acknowledged tiredly, as he shrank back into the form of Gaomon again.

Agumon had scrambled over to meet Sunflowmon as soon as he'd clambered down from Gaogamon's back, and was now anxiously gripping his partner's hand, asking his 'boss' how he was feeling. Masaru was sluggish and not really responsive. He stirred at the familiar sound of Agumon's voice, but didn't seem to comprehend the questions.

Tohma frowned at that; not a good sign. "Agumon," he said, as he walked over, "Go start collecting firewood from the trees or bushes, and get a fire lit in the cave."

"But Boss—"

"—needs you to help _me_ out so I can treat him," Tohma interrupted, without any interest in or time for a debate. "Hurry." Agumon hesitated, brushed his claws one last time over his human's hand, and then scurried off to do his newly appointed task.

Tohma took his place, and pressed his palm carefully to Masaru's forehead, and frowned. Cooler than he should be, and his skin was pale and clammy.

The other teen shifted at the contact and frowned irritably, slurring, "Dammit, Tonma, what the hell d'you think yer doing—"

He raised one fist weakly as if to strike, his classic response to almost anything, but at this stage his sister Chika could outfight him. Tohma caught the slow punch easily, and instead of getting angry he merely unfolded his patient's fingers and felt his hands. Also too cool. Masaru's body was shutting down any peripheral systems in an effort to stretch out its life, redirecting blood to where it was needed most due to how much he'd lost.

"Let's get him inside," Tohma said crisply, gently placing Masaru's wrist back down and ignoring the teen's muttering and name-calling—for the moment.

"I can't fit in there," Sunflowmon said worriedly, which was true. The cave was comfortably large enough for humans, but certainly wouldn't fit an Adult digimon. "And if I change back to Lalamon I'll drop him."

"We'll take him," Tohma decided. "Yoshino, if you could help...take his legs, and I'll carry his upper body—"

They managed it, somehow, and carried Masaru between them into the clean, dry cave as gently as they could. For all that it was impossible not to jar his wound, and the injured DATS agent groaned in agony more than once. He was too out of it by now to remember his ridiculous pride, or that he'd been trying to suppress any evidence of pain earlier.

Yoshino winced in sympathy as they finally set him down safely inside the cave and he gasped softly, eyes rolling. Almost immediately he tried to curl over on his side, but Tohma pushed him back down firmly. Yoshino, feeling sorry for him, pulled off her uniform's jacket, folded it up, and slipped it underneath Masaru's head. It wasn't much, but it was something at least, and that, coupled with Tohma's sharp but not unkind, "Stay still," seemed enough to make him calm.

It wasn't much of a comfort. Masaru's eyes were half-lidded and glassy; his gaze flickered between the other two humans unsteadily, and he seemed to have trouble focusing. Tohma snapped his fingers in front of Masaru's face, which seemed to help a little, and ordered sternly, "Masaru, stay with us, okay? Focus."

"Not...going anywhere..." Masaru slurred after a very long pause, as if he'd had trouble understanding the question. "Stupid Tohma..."

Tohma ignored the insult—it was very easy to do, with Masaru in _this_ state—and turned to Yoshino, saying, "Keep talking to him. Try to get him to stay focused while I get everything ready."

"What are you going to do?" Yoshino asked softly, as Lalamon, Child again, drifted into the cave and settled herself quietly in her partner's lap. Yoshino's arms curled around the digimon like a child taking comfort from a stuffed animal, and Lalamon patted her arm understandingly with one stumpy little limb.

"Whatever I can do with the supplies we have," Tohma said. "It won't be the same as surgery, but it's better than nothing. Now that we have a secure, defensible location, I can treat him better." Already he had seized their supplies backpack and removed the first aid kit, setting the items out in a careful arrangement next to Masaru as he tried to organize the procedure in his head. Based on the tools he had, how should he handle this...?

By the time he had arranged his chosen tools to his liking, the digimon had finished their tasks as well. Gaomon (still tired, but understanding the necessity of haste) had filled their canteens by the stream and returned with them promptly. Agumon had brought an enormous armful of brush into the cave, set it alight with his _Baby Flame_, and gone out twice more to collect extra fuel. Lalamon had taken it upon herself to oversee the boiling of the water to disinfect it and make it safe for use, and Yoshino was mostly able to holding Masaru's wavering attention, keeping him awake.

Things were as ready as they would ever be. "Gaomon, Agumon," he ordered, as he pulled on a fresh pair of clean latex gloves, "Keep guard outside the cave, just to be safe. Lalamon, if you could stay close and keep an eye on Masaru's temperature, or let me know if anything else changes, that would be a great help. Yoshino—you might as well keep trying at that communicator, just in case."

"Right," she said, looking a little relieved despite herself that she didn't have to help with the gory aspects of the treatment.

Tohma set to work, cutting away the previous soaked-through bandages and the sticky, frayed edges of Masaru's now completely destroyed uniform with the EMT shears in the kit. He frowned at the wound; it welled with fresh blood, and when he wiped away some of the red liquid it was to the sight of puckered, angry red flesh at the edges of the gash. It was already getting infected, and so quickly—but then, perhaps that wasn't surprising at all. Devidramon was a dark-alignment digimon. Who knew what its claws could do, or what they were coated in.

It wasn't a good sign, but he couldn't do anything to change what had already happened, just do what he could about stretching out Masaru's chances. He set to work cleaning the wound as best as he could, wiping away excess blood and (hopefully) any lingering contaminants from Devidramon's talon. Masaru hissed at the contact, fists clenching and eyes rolling as Tohma tampered with the sensitive injured flesh, and it turned into a gasp not long after, when he applied what antiseptic he could to combat the infection. He wished he could do something about the intestinal damage, but he didn't have the tools for it here, and it would be too dangerous to try and seriously treat them in such an unsterile environment. The cave was clean, but certainly no operating room.

When he'd done what he could for the infection, he fell back on the luckiest find in the first aid kit, and the one that would probably be responsible for saving Masaru's life if he lived at all. It was a package of hemostatic agent, designed for slowing or even stopping major blood loss. The military frequently used such agents in their field kits. Tohma could tell at a glance that this brand was less effective than those, meant more for household or office accidents than gaping stomach wounds, but it was all they had and worth a shot.

"This might burn a little," he warned Masaru quickly. The other teen didn't respond, but Tohma wasn't really expecting him to anyway, and began administering the hemostatic agent after carefully wiping down the wound once more. He poured it into the wound slowly, and was relieved to see it responding straight away, encouraging the blood to clot. Masaru hissed in discomfort, but Tohma ignored him and kept at it until the wound had been mostly filled, and then pressed gauze to the gash. With a little help from Lalamon, he was able to keep pressure on the injury while re-binding it with fresh bandages, until the wound was once more wrapped up and hidden neatly from view, without any tell-tale bloodstains.

They moved Masaru to a less sticky section of the cave floor, closer to the fire. In the cast light of the flames he looked a little better, but not by much. His skin was still far too pale and clammy, his limbs too cool, and his eyes remained half-lidded and glazed. Tohma checked his pulse, but it was weak and thready, which was not a good sign. His breathing was quick and shallow as well, likely just as much from his cracked ribs as from the blood loss—there was nothing Tohma could do to treat the ribs at all, which unfortunately meant Masaru would just have to deal with the discomfort. Their only concession was that they seemed to have at least slowed if not stopped the major bleeding, since the bandages remained pristine white.

Tohma hoped it would be enough. Even if Masaru did make it through this, it would almost certainly be close. As it was, he still could not honestly be sure of his fellow agent's survival. He might have lost too much blood already, and there was no way to replace the fluids. He couldn't even let Masaru drink some of the water, assuming they could coax him into coherency long enough to manage it anyway; with intestinal damage it was too much of a risk. Not only that, but the threats from toxins were almost guaranteed depending on how far the intestinal damage had gone, and infection had already begun. He was confident that he'd done everything he _could_ in this situation to help his friend, but he still wasn't certain it was enough.

_Hopefully Masaru has got enough fighting spirit to earn himself a medical miracle,_ Tohma thought grimly.

At this point, it was all they could hope for.

* * *

And another chapter down.

~VelkynKarma


	3. Chapter 3

**Consequences**

Part three of a fanfiction by Velkyn Karma

**Disclaimer:** I do not own, or pretend to own, _Digimon Savers_ or any of its subsequent characters, plots or other ideas. That right belongs solely to Bandai and Toei Animation. The only thing that belongs to me here is the concept for the story.

* * *

Not long after Tohma had finished with Masaru's treatments, Agumon poked his head into the cave. Seeing that his partner had been moved, and that Tohma was cleaning up, he asked anxiously, "Is Boss all better now? How come you're not doing anything anymore, Tohma? He's not...Boss isn't..."

"He's alive," Tohma assured quietly, "But there's nothing else I can do for him now. At this point it's up to him, and luck."

Agumon did not look happy at this announcement, and stepped fully into the cave, trotting towards his human. "But Boss is strong right? He's stronger than _normal_ humans. He won't _die._ Bosses don't die on their followers."

Tohma felt like snarling that it was only in stories things worked out like that, and whatever 'spirit' or 'duty' Agumon and Masaru believed in together had no say in _real_ life. But that wouldn't help matters any. With Masaru in such a dangerous predicament, it was absolutely _vital_ that Tohma remain calm and in control for the duration of their stay in the Digital World, until a Gateway could be opened for them. Already, his composure was the major component in holding the group together; otherwise they were an exhausted, frightened, anxious group, tired from the things they had endured and sick with worry over the dangerously injured state of their friend. They needed somebody to look towards to keep themselves as calm as they were able, or panic would set in. If that happened Masaru would be lost for sure, and absolutely none of them would ever forgive themselves.

So he held his tongue, bit back the frustrated words born from his own anxiety, his own concern that maybe he _hadn't_ done enough, and that if Masaru got significantly worse or died, that it would be _his_ fault. Instead he said, "I don't know, Agumon. He might have a better chance than most, but it's impossible to say in these conditions."

Agumon seemed to wilt at the answer. Tohma felt sorry for the poor digimon, but knew better than to sugar-coat his words. He'd learned very early on, when he'd first started working towards his medical license, that it was vital not to lie to his patients or their families. It might give them hope for a short period of time, but that hope could inevitably be dashed when things went sour, and having that hope violently torn free was more painful than simply getting the bad news from the start. Seeing Agumon anxious for his partner wasn't a pretty sight, but it would be worse to give him false hope, and then force him to watch his partner die in front of him. At least now he knew the truth.

Yoshino gave Tohma a cool look, and then said more sympathetically to Agumon, "Don't worry. Masaru's a fighter, remember? He won't go down that easily, especially with a follower to look after."

Agumon brightened slightly at this. Tohma took the opportunity to add, "You should return to guarding. It's vital that we keep this place defended until the time the Digital Gate will be sent back for us. Masaru won't last long in an attack, especially from that Devidramon."

Agumon flashed his teeth in determination and stomped back to his post outside the cave mouth, opposite Gaomon. He seemed very dedicated to his goal of protecting his partner, at least at first. But five minutes later Tohma picked up on Gaomon's quiet voice admonishing the other digimon when Agumon tried to check on his partner again, and five minutes after that he was poking his head back into the cave once more, asking how 'Boss' was doing now.

"Nothing has changed, Agumon," Tohma said, trying to be patient. But Agumon continued persisted, poking his head in or abandoning his post completely every few minutes, inquiring into his partner's health. He seemed irrationally afraid that Masaru was just going to up and vanish if he wasn't there to watch him every second, and it made him sloppy and unfocused at everything else he tried to do.

Tohma tried to be sympathetic, but after the seventh inquiry he'd had enough. He felt like yelling at the digimon to stop asking the same question over and over, but once again, that would help little with keeping the morale of the rest of the group up. So as Agumon wandered back into the cave yet again, Tohma excused himself briefly to step outside for some fresh air, and a chance to pace around under the digital stars for a few minutes as he tried to gain control of himself once again.

"Doesn't he see that this isn't helping matters any?" he asked out loud in frustration. "We need discipline if we're going to get through this, _especially_ with Masaru as he is."

Gaomon, the only one left guarding the cave like he was _supposed_ to be, said simply, "He is worried about his Master." And Tohma blinked at that, because although Gaomon's statement was voiced as respectfully and quietly as always, Tohma knew his digimon well enough by now to catch the edge of real sympathy in his voice. Gaomon, who excelled at discipline and had once detested Agumon's wild antics almost as much as Tohma had once detested Masaru's, did not blame the dinosaur digimon in the least for abandoning his post. In fact, he was _sorry_ for his fellow digimon, and Tohma realized that had their positions been reversed and _he_ was the one laying in there with his stomach torn open, Gaomon would be just as frantic with worry as Agumon was now.

Tohma bit his lip, and said nothing in response, but Gaomon didn't seem to expect an answer; just watched his master pace back and forth quietly, accepting, uncomplaining. Tohma took a few minutes more to calm himself, and when he stepped back into the cave he said with much more patience than before, "Agumon, you may sit with Masaru if you like. But _don't_ touch him unless you ask me first. I don't want you to make him worse by accident."

"I can? You're not so bad at all, Tohma!" Agumon said gratefully, and immediately dashed over to sit by his partner's head. "I'm here, Boss!" he said loudly to Masaru, waving one claw in front of his human's face. "Your follower is supporting you every step of the way now, promise! We can fight together, just like always!"

Masaru was barely conscious, and likely didn't even understand most of the words his digimon had said. But all the same, his glazed eyes seemed to flicker at the voice, and Tohma could swear he almost saw a twitch at the corner of the teen's lips, as if he was trying to smirk in agreement.

And so they all settled down to the oddly exhausting practice of simply _waiting,_ as the final three hours before the Digital Gate was due to spawn began to ever so slowly tick by. The time passed mostly in silence, other than Masaru's uneven breathing and Agumon's quiet chatter to his human. Nobody dozed either; nobody could bring themselves to rest, with the tension and worry in the cave as thick and smothering as it was. Gaomon kept guard, sometimes switching off with Lalamon when he needed a break. Yoshino curled up against one of the cave walls and tried the communicator every once and a while, although less and less often when it became obvious that no matter what she tried, she would have no success. Tohma sat near his patient, occasionally checking for any indications that Masaru was getting worse, while Agumon remained faithfully at his side, talking to him almost constantly.

In the end, it seemed it was a good thing after all that Tohma had allowed Agumon to stop guarding and stay by his human. As time passed, Masaru was clearly having more and more trouble remaining conscious. By now he drifted in and out of lucidity, to judge by his occasional muttering about places or people that weren't actually there. And although they could catch his attention if they worked hard, he had an incredibly difficult time remaining focused on them, or answering even the simplest of questions. It was a bad sign, and Tohma wanted to keep him alert for as long as possible, worried about what would happen when he finally drifted into unconsciousness. Agumon had the most luck keeping his human awake and catching his attention, which was a blessing—Masaru responded to Agumon's voice the most often, if rarely to his direct questions or statements or stories. He seemed to know his digimon was nearby, and made a valiant effort to respond to that. That was good. It meant Masaru hadn't given up yet, not that Tohma ever really expected him to.

And for the first hour, things were relatively positive, at least as far as Tohma could see. Their situation was terrible, but Masaru was hanging on tenaciously, Tohma's treatments were working for the time being, and it seemed that they really would make it to the Digital Gate's generation.

But then Masaru's health started to get worse.

It wasn't obvious at first, that his situation was slowly spiraling downwards. The first indicator to Tohma was that Masaru's breathing became more labored, growing shallow and rapid. Tohma could have kicked himself when he caught on. It had been difficult to tell that it was a symptom of the blood loss, since Masaru's breathing was already a mess due to the cracked ribs. But he was a damn genius, he _should_ have noticed sooner. Once they'd all noticed it, it was impossible to ignore the pained, too-fast panting, and Agumon asked worriedly if there was anything he could do for his 'boss.' But there wasn't, unfortunately, not here in this cave.

So the dinosaur digimon just talked to his human instead, working harder to keep him aware for as long as possible. And that was when Agumon coaxed another symptom out of Masaru, when the teen complained foully in his lucid moments about it being too dark, even with the fire burning brightly not even a foot and a half from his face. Tohma had immediately followed up on the complaint by waving his hand in front of Masaru's face, but the wounded teen had barely been able to track his fingers, and twenty minutes later hadn't been able to follow them along at all. It meant his systems were straining to provide oxygen where it was necessary, now, and his vision was blacking out.

Agumon had briefly panicked over this, and even Yoshino seemed worried about Masaru's sudden case of blindness. Tohma assured them that once Masaru was in the hospital and well cared for his vision _should_ return, and they calmed significantly with his confident tone. He didn't bother to tell them that he wasn't sure if Masaru would _make_ it to the hospital—that would only make things worse all over again.

But by far the last hour was the most frightening. Tohma had set his palmtop to count down the time until the Gateway, and no sooner had the little computer beeped that the last hour was upon them, Masaru had sluggishly laid his head to one side with a sigh. Even in the warm firelight his lips looked discolored, and Tohma realized with a shock of dread that they were faintly blue. Coupled with the glassy, unfocused, half-lidded stare and the dark lines under his eyes, it made Masaru look more dead than alive. Frowning, Tohma carefully lifted one of the wounded teen's hands, and noticed grimly that his fingertips, too, were turning faintly blue. The blood loss and oxygen deprivation were getting severe, now.

"Come on, you idiot," he hissed down at Masaru. "Hold it together. Not even an hour left. You're not going to give up a fight _that_ close, are you?"

Masaru seemed to stir a little at that, and his sightless eyes flickered slightly; but he said nothing, his body too sluggish and still, and his mind too far gone, to react as he should have. Tohma ground his teeth in frustration, and kept an increasingly desperate eye on his palmtop's timer.

With half an hour to go, Masaru's eyes finally slipped tiredly closed and they lost him to unconsciousness. Agumon tried frantically to wake him again, like he already had half a dozen times when Masaru had seemed like he was falling asleep. But the teen didn't open his eyes this time, no matter how many times Agumon called for his boss to wake up. Thankfully he still had a pulse—too weak, too unstable, but _there_—and there were trace responses to the pain of his injuries, so they hadn't lost him completely yet.

But Tohma was becoming desperately afraid that Masaru was really and truly going to die on them in this very cave, in the Digital World, and increasingly sure all he would be able to do was watch. And that was not a comforting feeling, not when it was a friend's life on the line. And certainly not when they had as fiery a spirit as Masaru's and had to die so..._pathetically._

But at last the palmtop beeped its ten minute warning, and immediately Tohma ordered, "Pack up and get ready to go. We want to be standing there when that Gateway appears, and we don't have any time to waste." He only hoped they had enough time at all, and forced his expression to remain calm and distant when he glanced down at Masaru's unconscious form.

Five minutes later the fire was stomped out, their few supplies were repacked, and their digimon were evolved to their Adult forms once more. Gaogamon and Sunflowmon were still tired, since neither one had slept. But they _had_ been given a chance to rest, and Yoshino had offered them all of the ration bars and snacks in the hopes of renewing their energy. It wouldn't be perfect, but they could manage the trek at least, and they were ready for it. Sunflowmon carefully—but with much more confidence than before—accepted Masaru's limp form from Tohma and Yoshino when they carried him out to her, and cradled him close to her thick body to keep him extra safe. Gaogamon crouched without orders for his passengers, and everyone, even Agumon, climbed on with as much haste as they could muster.

Then they were off, dashing back towards the point they had arrived at only last night—had it really only been last night? Tohma felt like days had gone by, not less than twelve hours. The gently rising digital sun, casting warm pink, red, and yellow light on the world, made their surroundings feel so much different than they had last night, in their panicked, desperate rush to save their friend. It didn't feel the same, but Tohma was at least glad that it was almost over. And they were close to the Gate as well; about a mile and a half away, some distance for humans but practically nothing at all to the large Adult forms of their digimon. They'd make it in minutes. Masaru should live, assuming he survived the journey there.

Tohma had never been so relieved about anything in his life.

As they had last time, they travelled mostly in silence. Tohma took this as a good sign. Sunflowmon was under orders to report to him should anything go wrong, but she hadn't made an attempt to glide up beside Gaogamon yet, which meant Masaru was still clinging to life as well as he could. Just a little bit farther—

"Master," Gaogamon growled suddenly beneath him, "Just ahead—the field—"

He was right. Tohma could see the rocky plain they had been traveling over melding seamlessly into the grassy field they had touched down upon last night. He consulted his palmtop and said, "Good, we made it on time. The portal should appear in approximately one minute—"

Gaogamon growled suddenly, a noise Tohma felt reverberating up beneath him almost as much as he heard, and the large akita whipped his head back and forth suddenly. Tohma felt ice grip his heart—this was how Gaogamon always acted when there was a digimon nearby. He opened his mouth to ask where the signal came from, but before he could get out so much as a word, Agumon shrieked suddenly, "Sunflowmon, look out!"

There was a horrible cackling from above, and Tohma whipped his head around just in time to see a black blur with terrible red claws outstretched before it dive down out of the sky, straight at Yoshino's digimon. Sunflowmon squealed in surprise, but threw herself through the air to the side just in time, clutching Masaru protectively close as she shielded him. The attacking digimon missed her by inches.

"That's Devidramon!" Yoshino realized in horror. "_Our_ Devidramon, the target!"

"That's the one that hurt Boss!" Agumon wailed, in a mixture of horror and anger.

"It seems it's back to finish the job," Tohma observed grimly, as he watched the Devidramon circle back into the air and hover above, watching Sunflowmon hungrily. He wasn't surprised—Devidramon was a bloodthirsty killer, and Masaru was weakened prey that couldn't fight back. It was probably too much of a thrill to pass up.

Agumon snarled angrily and twisted on Gaogamon's back, as if he intended to jump off. "I'm gonna—"

_"No!"_ Tohma yelled at him. "Stay up! Gaogamon, Sunflowmon, move for the Gateway! The Gateway!" It was due to appear any minute now, and if they could get through it, they would be safe. If the Devidramon followed them it would be walking straight into DATS territory, with four extra digimon to back them up. More importantly, there was no way they could fight here—The Devidramon had proved too dangerous to fight without all three Adults available, and in their present state only Gaogamon could battle. Sunflowmon was burdened with Masaru, and Agumon couldn't evolve without his partner at all.

Besides—although Masaru himself would argue relentlessly about running from the fight, if they didn't get him out of it _now,_ he wouldn't be alive much longer at all.

The Adults seemed to understand, and Yoshino hooked an arm around one of Agumon's to hold him in place, just to be safe. Sunflowmon flew with all the speed she could muster for the place the Digital Gate would appear, and Gaogamon thundered after her, straining for still more speed.

But the Devidramon was clever, and what was more, it had understood their strategy. And it was much faster than Sunflowmon when it came to flight. Quick as a flash it blazed past her and hurled itself directly into their path, just as the first edges of the Digital Gateway began to shimmer open—several feet behind the creature.

Devidramon leered at them cruelly, and waited.


	4. Chapter 4

**Consequences**

Part four of a fanfiction by Velkyn Karma

_None Of Your Business ~_ I don't think the inclusion of infection can be considered creative liberties, really. After all, Yoshino gets sick later in the series after visiting the Digital World from picking something up there, and ends up giving it to Ikuto as well, so it isn't impossible. Additionally, although I'm no medical expert, my research on gut injuries before I started writing this suggested that an intestinal injury would actually release toxins stored safely in the body itself if hit in the wrong place. Either case means infection is a possibility if they're unfortunate.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own, or pretend to own, _Digimon Savers_ or any of its subsequent characters, plots or other ideas. That right belongs solely to Bandai and Toei Animation. The only thing that belongs to me here is the concept for the story.

* * *

Tohma cursed as his digimon ground to a halt next to Sunflowmon. Devidramon leered at them and lashed out with its blood-red claws—the same claws that had started this whole damned mess—and the partnered Adult digimon leapt and flew out of the way quickly. Tohma briefly hoped the creature would follow after them and give them an opening to escape, but the Devidramon again proved too clever. It remained blocking the Gateway, glaring wickedly at them.

Tohma could feel his teeth grinding from the frustration of it all, but ordered sharply, "Dodge around it! Get to that Digital Gate!"

"Yes, Master!" Gaogamon rumbled, and Sunflowmon's low acknowledgement joined his. The two digimon tried to dart around the Devidramon, but as before the creature proved their equal. With the same vicious cackle as before, the beast hurled itself in the way and slashed out with its claws, jabbing them straight for Masaru's limp form. Sunflowmon dodged back hastily, and cried out in pain when the claws dug into one leafy arm as she turned to protect her burden. But Adult digimon were much better equipped to handle attacks from other digimon of their own level than humans. Sunflowmon was injured, but she wasn't helpless yet, and fluttered away from the Devidramon hastily.

Gaogamon had made no progress either. The Devidramon had lashed out with its thick tail, spiked at one end, in the same moment it had clawed at Sunflowmon. The blue doglike digimon was agile enough to dodge the strike, but it was also effective at halting his progress. The Digital Gateway cut a hole in the air just a little out of reach, on the other side of the viciously cunning opponent.

Tohma grit his teeth again. This was bad. This was _very_ bad. The Devidramon was too damned smart for its own good, and it was out for blood. Already it was eyeing Sunflowmon and the unconscious human in her leafy arms hungrily, and Tohma knew instinctively it wasn't going to stop until Masaru was dead—and the rest of them, as well. Not that the first of them would be alive much longer. Sunflowmon had kept Masaru from taking any more damage, but her constant dodging was going to put too much strain on his already heavily strained body, and if that stomach injury hadn't broken open already or the ribs hadn't cracked further...damn. Masaru _had_ to get out of the battle. _Now._

His mind worked lightning-quick, examining dozens of possibilities in seconds, desperate for a solution but disciplined enough to not panic in finding it. Every fact, every scenario, led him to only one possible strategy that would hopefully get them all out of here alive, and he acted on it immediately.

"Everyone off!" he ordered, and gripped Yoshino's wrist behind him even as he swung free of his digimon. Yoshino yelped but stumbled to the ground relatively intact, and Agumon fell off more than dismounted, but in seconds Gaogamon was unburdened. Tohma took advantage of it immediately. "Start engaging immediately! Hold its attention, do _not_ let it escape or follow further. If it wants to block our path, then fine. Two can play at that game."

"Yes, Master!" Gaogamon acknowledged, and he threw himself forward immediately into his task, spitting a vicious _Spiral Blow_ straight into the Devidramon's chest to catch its attention. The dark digimon shrieked in anger at the blatant attack, and hurled itself at Gaogamon with a vicious lashing of claws. But Gaogamon, no longer burdened with riders to protect, leapt back with much more agility than before and snarled, taunting the creature after it.

This was the moment Tohma was waiting for, and under the cover of the loud growls and vicious shrieks he said to Yoshino and Agumon, "You two, hurry. Get to Sunflowmon, take Masaru, and get through the Digital Gate while we distract Devidramon."

Yoshino looked stunned. "No way! We can't leave you behind with that thing, you'll end up just like Masaru!"

"Give me some credit," he said, with a forced smile. "I'm not about to attack it myself. No, _listen,_" he added, when she opened her mouth to protest again. "It's playing a waiting game with us, keeping us from getting to that Gate. That would be fine if all of us were in good shape, and we could out-wait it. But we can't do that. Masaru doesn't _have_ any more time left, understand? He needs to get to a hospital_ now,_ and if we can't get him past that thing, he's going to die.

"I'm not going to do anything foolish," he promised, at her skeptical look. "We'll hold it off long enough for you to get through that Gateway, and then we'll fight defensively from there. The Gateway will close when you go through it due to safety protocols, so we'll play it safe until you can get headquarters to make us a new one."

Yoshino bit her lip, but she could see Sunflowmon a short distance away, and the all too limp form of their fellow DATS agent in her arms. She could obviously see the logic—her digimon couldn't help, and if they had an injured friend on the field it could just cause liabilities in the fight when they had to protect him. "Fine," she finally agreed, "But you'd better not die."

"I'll stay and help you!" Agumon said, flexing his claws.

"No, you won't," Tohma said curtly. "There's nothing you can do against Devidramon in your current state. Go with your partner—you should be there for him now anyway." Agumon bared his teeth in frustration, but it was obvious he didn't really want to leave his 'boss' in such a state, and he finally nodded.

The two of them dashed over to meet Sunflowmon, and the plant-dinosaur bent her head low to listen to the plan. She looked anxious, but nodded in agreement, and the three waited for their opportunity.

Tohma knew he had to give it to them fast. "Gaogamon! Press your attack! Arrangement D!"

"Yes, Master!" his digimon acknowledged, and flew into a series of rapid-fire aggressive attacks—_Spiral Blow, Dash Double Claw, Gaoga Hound_—one after another, viciously, relentlessly. It was a dangerously wild expenditure of energy, which was why Tohma detested such a strategy; if the opposing monster wasn't defeated at the end of the series, it left Gaogamon weakened and severely exposed. But they didn't have a choice now, and had to provide as much of a distraction as they possibly could.

It worked at first—the Devidramon was too busy defending against the rapid attacks, and Yoshino and the others seized the opportunity to make a dash for the Digital Gate in the creature's blind spot. But then the Devidramon caught sight of its prey escaping, and screamed in rage, whirling to chase after them.

"Do _not_ let it pursue!" Tohma ordered—they just needed a few more seconds. Sunflowmon was almost at the Digital Gate and the others were just a little ways behind her. Gaogamon snarled and leapt forward so fast he didn't even have a chance for his ritualistic acknowledgement, and sank his fangs deep into the Devidramon's spiny tail. The creature thrashed angrily, and the diamond-shaped spike cut more than a few slashes in Gaogamon's muzzle, narrowly missing his eyes. But Gaogamon dug in his claws and pulled back with all his strength, and the creature came to an abrupt halt in the air, flapping its wings uselessly as it tried to give chase.

Then the Devidramon screamed again angrily, at the same moment that Tohma felt his heart lighten in relief. Because Sunflowmon was at the Gateway now, carefully lowering the unconscious Masaru down to Yoshino to pull through the circular hole in the air before she entered it herself. She would be forced to de-digivolve to fit in the portal, and if Masaru wasn't transferred then she'd certainly drop him. Yoshino took her first steps into the Gate, hauling Masaru awkwardly with her arms under his shoulders; it would be murder on his injuries, but if he got through to the real world, that was the important thing. Sunflowmon shrank as she ducked after her human, and seconds later as Lalamon she tried to help with maneuvering Masaru as she, too, slipped into the Gateway.

Devidramon's thrashing grew stronger still as it watched its prey escape, and Gaogamon finally lost his hold with a growl of pain as the diamond spike struck a glancing blow to his left eye. It hurled itself at the Gateway, claws outstretched as though it intended to reach through after them, to haul them back—

Tohma was already dashing forward in frustration, and to his own shock found himself cursing the Devidramon out loud, as well. "Don't you dare! I won't let you follow them—if you kill any of them I'll destroy you _myself_—"

What the hell was he even _saying?_ If Masaru's crazy fighting attitude had transferred over to Tohma in all this mess...that idiot was going to get such a talking to when he was conscious again—

The Devidramon, apparently, considered this just as much of a challenge as it had yesterday when Masaru threatened it, and it turned abruptly in the air, eyeing Tohma wickedly. Tohma was very acutely aware that he did _not_ actually want to fight that thing on his own, especially after seeing what it had done to Masaru, who had much more experience punching out enormous digimon than he did. But something in him refused to back down, to run for it. He wasn't foolish enough to hurl himself headlong at the bloodthirsty beast, but after spending hours tending to a wounded friend, and knowing that _this_ creature had been the cause of so much fear and worry...he didn't like this thing. He hated it for what it had done. And he wasn't going to feed it further by running in terror.

So he glared back at the creature balefully, while it watched him with glowing red eyes, and all the while all he could think in his head was, _This is all Masaru's damned fault. A month ago I wouldn't have been _this_ idiotic._

Then it dived for him.

Gaogamon hurled himself at the Devidramon with an angry snarl, and slammed the creature out of the air before it could get too close to his master. Tohma breathed an inward sigh of relief; he had no interest in being skewered by such a large creature. The two digimon wrestled for a moment, a blur of black and blue and red and white, their shrieks and growls reverberating through the ground as they fought. But Gaogamon was exhausted after everything that had happened, and after a few minutes there was a pained yell as the large dog staggered backwards and crashed onto his side, with several deep slashes along his ribs from the creature's claws.

"Gaogamon!" Tohma cried, and darted for his digimon.

Devidramon shrieked in victory, and once more hurled itself at the now helpless and unprotected human at its mercy, vicious claws outstretched. Tohma knew he was as good as dead now—Gaogamon was struggling to rise, but the blow from his opponent had stunned him, and there was no way he'd make it in time. No rescue was coming either, with the others through the Gateway. And Tohma was all too aware of how easily those claws would gut him, slice him open and expose his insides to the world, knew_ exactly_ how painful it would be and how long it would take him to die—

_"Baby Burner!"_ came an unexpected cry, and moments later a torrent of flame smashed into the Devidramon's wrist seconds before those claws hit. Tohma was stunned, and it was instinct alone that made him duck. The claws razored over his head by mere inches, thrown off target by the flame attack, and smashed into the ground.

Tohma wasted no time getting out of there, and skidded to a halt on the grass a safe distance from the Devidramon, panting heavily. Only then did he scan the field, and spot the familiar orange dinosaur digimon standing not too far from where the Digital Gate _had_ been a few minutes ago.

"Agumon!" he yelled. "What are you doing here? I told you to go with Masaru!"

"Boss'd be angry if I let you guys take all the credit for this fight!" the little dinosaur said, claws clenched in determination. "A follower _always_ looks after his boss's interests. So I'm gonna help, since he can't be here, and this is _his_ fight. And don't say I'm useless, 'cause I totally just saved your life!"

Tohma couldn't deny that—he'd definitely been a hair's breadth from being sliced into pieces. Nor could he deny that Agumon's timely distraction had given Gaogamon enough time to gain his feet again. His own digimon looked tired, and his injury looked painful, but he was determined all the same. "Fine," Tohma called back, "But be careful! I don't want Masaru to wake up in the hospital only for me to explain why his digimon is now an _egg,_ got it?"

"You got it!" Agumon said, and immediately bolted to his left when the Devidramon—angry at an inferior Child digimon's interference—hurled itself at him. When the Devidramon whipped its head around to follow, trying to snap Agumon up in its jaws, Gaogamon hit it from behind with a _Spiral Blow_ and then leapt on its back, tearing angrily at its torn wings with his strong jaws.

Agumon ducked nimbly away from the wrestling digimon, and helpfully spat a few _Baby Flames_ at the Devidramon's head. Most dispersed off of its thick bony armor, but one lucky shot hit one of the beast's glowing red eyes, and it screamed in pain and thrashed all the harder. It succeeded in finally dislodging Gaogamon, who fell off of its back and rolled away quickly to its feet.

"Get ready," Tohma warned both his own digimon and Agumon, as the Devidramon scratched at its burned eye and looked back and forth warily between its two opponents. "Whoever he goes after, get out of the way, and the other should attack while you have an opportunity."

"Yes, Master," Gaogamon acknowledge, crouching at the ready.

"Sure," Agumon agreed, baring his teeth.

The Devidramon did not appear to like this plan. It was clever enough to know it was outnumbered, and it seemed to have far more wary respect for Agumon, even as a Child level digimon, now that the dinosaur had seriously injured it. Its response was the same as it had been in all their other encounters—with the odds against it, it tried to run.

Only this time it didn't get far. Gaogamon's last attack had seriously damaged its two largest wings, and now the creature was incapable of supporting itself in the air. It leapt and floundered almost immediately back to the ground, damaged appendages flapping uselessly.

"Now!" Tohma ordered. The digimon didn't need to be told twice, and hurled themselves at the weakened Devidramon with angry battle cries.

The final stage of the battle was brutal. Devidramon was a bloodthirsty, cunning brute when healthy, and when cornered with its own life at stake it became positively wild and vicious, lashing out madly at its opponents with all four clawed limbs, sharp jaws, and spiked tail; it even beat at them with its broken wings, hoping to stun them. Poor Agumon was soundly buffeted more than once, and his right arm had a deep gash in it where the creature's tail had gotten an unlucky strike. Gaogamon was even worse off by the end. His thick white mane was streaked with red, he took several more glancing slashes along his back and sides, and one of his forepaws was badly damaged, so that he limped when he walked or attacked.

But for all that, for all their exhaustion and injury and weakness, they were slowly but surely winning. Tohma shouted orders whenever he spotted the Devidramon open itself up for a critical attack, and Gaogamon and even Agumon responded with determination. The creature was strong, but they whittled it down piece by piece, until it grew more sluggish in its attacks, less clever and vicious.

Until at last, with a triumphant _"Spiral Blow!"_ the Devidramon finally screamed and vanished into thousands of digital particles. Most of them dispersed into the air, but a few hundred slowly swirled together and formed a dark spotted egg, which sank down to the grass gently. The digimon almost immediately collapsed to the ground as well, Gaogamon sprawled out on his belly while Agumon flopped into an exhausted sit, both panting hard. Tohma didn't blame them; he hadn't even been fighting and his own breathing was as harsh as if he'd fought the Devidramon himself.

But the battle was over. And that was ultimately what mattered.

He let them rest for a while, and allowed Gaogamon to shift back to his Child form. Gaomon possessed most of the same injuries his Adult form had, but they were easier to treat in his smaller stage, and Tohma still had the supplies bag and the first aid kit slung across his back. He treated the digimon silently, and while they were hurt they would be fine in the long run. Digimon were much hardier than humans when it came to fighting other digimon, after all. They looked a sight wrapped in bandages, but other than the occasional wince or whine or (in Agumon's case) complaint about hunger, one would never know they had taken such a brutal beating a few minutes earlier.

When they were cared for as best they could be, Tohma gave the field another quick glance around. Still no Digital Gate—having detected lifeforms passing through it, the last one had closed just as Tohma had programmed it to, to prevent other escaping digimon. But on the bright side, there were no more attacks either, and in the center of the field they would have ample warning if anything _did_ come after them. The three of them left the Devidramon egg where it lay and walked over to the part of the field where the Digital Gate had formed for them, and settled down once again to the boring and anxious task of waiting for a ride home.

But waiting was easier said than done, especially with their present company—which included Agumon.

"What's taking them so long?" the little dinosaur asked, claws crossed awkwardly in frustration. "Don't they know how worried I am about Boss?"

"Be patient," Gaomon said tiredly, from where he was sitting at Tohma's feet. "They must have their reasons."

Tohma nodded in agreement with his digimon, and added, "Yoshino wouldn't leave us here. She'll make sure they send us another Gateway. But they're probably busy dealing with other, more important things at the moment, especially with the condition Masaru was in. We're in no danger here, so just be patient."

Agumon huffed and sat down in the grass, but when he spoke his voice was full of worry. "I hope Boss is okay," he said softly. "I hope nothing went wrong. I wonder what's going on..."

Truth be told, Tohma was thinking exactly the same things that Agumon voiced out loud—though it would do no good for him to voice his own worries, and so he didn't. But the concerns were still there. Had they gotten Masaru through the Gateway in time, or had it been too late? Had Yoshino been able to explain the situation? Had the captain gotten Masaru to a hospital in time, and come up with acceptable excuses as to why a teenager had been gashed open and left so long without treatment? Would the doctors be able to treat him in that state? And most importantly of all to Tohma, had _he_ done enough for his fellow DATS agent, considering everything they'd gone through? If Masaru didn't make it, Tohma didn't doubt for a second that he'd blame himself. He was effectively the doctor on call in their missions—if Masaru died, it would certainly be at least partly his fault for failing at the critical moment.

"Master?" Gaomon asked quietly, gazing up at his human with concern. The dog digimon knew his master's moods well, and Tohma couldn't get anything past him.

"It's nothing," Tohma said shortly, and tried to think of more pleasant things.

Gaomon cocked his head, glanced over at Agumon, and then said quietly enough for only his partner to hear, "He'll live because of you, Master. Not the other way around."

Tohma felt the faintest traces of a smile at the corners of his lips. No, he definitely couldn't hide anything from Gaomon. The verbal assurance wasn't much, but Tohma felt better for it all the same. The wait after that was still agonizingly slow, and the tension of not knowing how their friend fared was thick enough to practically feel in the air, but at least it was less cutting and painful than before.

At last, nearly an hour after Yoshino and Sunflowmon had escaped back to the human world with Masaru, a hole bored itself in the air and slowly began to swirl open, until it was large enough to step into. Tohma eyed the Digital Gate gratefully and shouldered the supplies bag, and together he and the two digimon stepped through into the Real World once more.


	5. Chapter 5

**Consequences**

Part five of a fanfiction by Velkyn Karma

**Disclaimer:** I do not own, or pretend to own, _Digimon Savers_ or any of its subsequent characters, plots or other ideas. That right belongs solely to Bandai and Toei Animation. The only thing that belongs to me here is the concept for the story.

* * *

They reappeared in the Dive Chamber in a blaze of light, and Tohma shielded his eyes out of habit, waiting for the machine to power down so he could see properly again. The glow receded slowly, and the three of them blinked as their eyes adjusted to the lighting of DATS headquarters.

"I'm _so_ sorry for the wait," a female voice said hastily, from one of the consoles. Tohma scanned the room and spotted blond-haired Megumi after a moment, with her partner, the white Pawnchessmon, standing beside her. She stood up from the console a moment later, and added, "Yoshino told us what happened, but there were complications, and with Masaru the way he was we couldn't—"

She choked to a halt on her words, looking rather pale. Agumon, scared by her reaction, asked anxiously, "Is Boss okay? He's...he's not..."

"We're not actually sure yet," Megumi said slowly, after taking a deep breath. "Right now he's at the hospital. Last I heard he was still in surgery. The captain is there right now, and Miki and Yoshino, with Masaru's family. I was there too, but the captain finally got a hold of Masaru's personal effects and sent me back with this to get you guys." She held up Masaru's orange-trimmed digivice, and then added, "It took a while to reconfigure the portal though. Sorry about the wait."

"So we can go see Boss now?" Agumon asked, sounding frantic. "If he's hurt I have to be there! I'm his follower, I have to help him out!"

"You can't just walk into the hospital," Tohma said. "That will cause more panic than help. But if you're in the digivice we can bring you with us." Which explained why the captain had waited so long to get a hold of it again before sending Megumi back—he'd known Agumon would be frantic for his partner and would cause trouble otherwise.

"Oh, of course, I'll do anything! I'll stay in there all day if it means I can be near Boss!" Agumon said insistently. That was a testament to just how worried he was for his partner, because everybody at DATS knew Agumon _hated_ being stuck in his digivice, and broke out at every conceivable opportunity.

Tohma was more than a little anxious for news himself, and Megumi looked worried as well. So they wasted no time storing the digimon in their respective digivices before taking off, and Tohma kept Masaru's extra one slung at his belt for now alongside his own. Megumi had the DATS car that Yoshino usually drove waiting for them, and Tohma was privately glad to discover that she was a _slightly_ more sane driver than Yoshino was, even in a panic situation like this.

They piled into the hospital, and located everyone else waiting impatiently for news in the emergency room's reception area, huddled in a group as close as they could get to the doors of the operating rooms without being reprimanded by the staff. Tohma and Megumi joined them and inquired into Masaru's health immediately, but while there wasn't any immediate bad news, there wasn't any good news, either.

"We still don't know anything," Miki said impatiently. "It's been almost two hours now, but every time I stop a doctor or nurse they just tell us the same thing. 'Just be patient.' We've _been_ patient!"

"The captain had to order her to stop pestering the poor staff," Yoshino whispered quietly to Tohma. He couldn't help but chuckle humorlessly at that. DATS agents varied, but they were all stubborn to a man when it came to it. It seemed to be a requirement for the digimon that partnered with them.

"It's true we haven't heard about how Masaru is doing now," Sayuri, Masaru's mother, said softly. Tohma's heart felt like it was gripped in an angry fist when he watched her; the poor woman looked so exhausted, so _worried_, and in that Tohma could relate. He'd watched somebody important to him die, too. He knew firsthand how painful it could be. "But," Sayuri added, "The doctors seemed a bit hopeful when they were bringing him in...they said he was in bad shape, but that he _should_ have been dead. His initial treatment was very well handled, they said." And despite all the heartache she _had_ to have been going through, she found the strength to give Tohma a soft smile. "Thank you."

Tohma shook his head. "Don't thank me yet," he began, but cut off with a soft _oof_ as Chika half-tackled, half-hugged him and threw her arms around his waist.

"Th-thanks for s-saving my big b-brother," she stammered. He could tell she'd been crying, and there were tear tracks on her face, but she smiled up at him tentatively after a moment.

"I..." he sighed, and then gently placed a hand on her head. "Of course, Chika." For all their bickering, he knew how close the Daimon siblings were; Chika trusted her brother absolutely, and Masaru was viciously protective of her. It would be a terrible shame if that were to be broken now. All he could do was hope that he really _had_ helped Masaru last long enough to make it back to his family alive.

"How are _you_ guys doing?" Yoshino asked, when Chika finally let go and retreated to her mother a few minutes later. She gave Tohma a once-over, and then pointedly glanced at the two digivices hanging from his belt. "And what happened to the Devidramon? I hope you're all okay...I didn't realize that Agumon wasn't behind me until we stepped out of the Dive Chamber and the captain took Masaru for me—"

"He's really heavier than he looks," Lalamon piped up, from the direction of Yoshino's belt, where she was also hidden in her digivice.

"He is not!" Agumon shot back from his own digivice. "Unless it's from muscle, 'cause Boss is really strong! And I'm fine, Yoshino. I just had to fight, that's all."

"Gaomon's fine as well," Tohma added. "Both of the digimon took a few injuries, but they'll heal pretty fast. And we defeated the Devidramon, so it wasn't a total loss."

"I got him right in the eye!" Agumon added gleefully from Tohma's belt. "Boss'll be real cheered up to hear that!"

"I came close to getting hit once, but he missed," Tohma added, finishing his rough report. "Agumon deflected it, so I suppose it was a good thing he stayed behind after all." If he hadn't been so exhausted, he would have hated admitting that. He was getting better at dealing with Masaru's and Agumon's spontaneous fighting style, but it still took getting used to, and he preferred his own much more understandable logic.

"You look tired," Captain Satsuma spoke up for the first time. "Why don't you sit down for a while?"

It had been phrased as a suggestion, but was definitely a command, and Tohma glanced over at his superior briefly. It was a little strange not to see Kudamon wrapped quietly around the large man's neck like a scarf, but the lack of his partner didn't make him any less imposing. It'd be a good idea to obey—especially because it sounded like a damned fine idea to Tohma anyway, who felt dead on his feet. He sat in one of the waiting room's chairs and stretched out his legs, too tired to bother with proper etiquette at the moment.

So they waited even longer for even the tiniest scrap of news about their friend, as another hour passed, and another, and even Tohma with his near infinite levels of patience was beginning to detest the fact that his whole _life_ seemed to be nothing but _waiting_ recently. Especially now, on top of everything else. He was exhausted, after spending the whole night awake doing nothing but waiting, and he was sure at some point he'd fallen asleep in his chair. When he'd woken it was to find Sayuri's jacket draped over him, and to his horror his own blood-and-dirt smeared uniform had gotten it messy. He apologized to her profusely in his embarrassment; she told him not to worry, and reassured him again that he'd only been asleep for half an hour. He mentally kicked himself and refused to let himself fall asleep again. And still there was no news.

But at last it came, and when it did it was some of the best news Tohma had had in a long, long time. Masaru was out of surgery and stable, the doctor reported to them, and paused politely for the enthusiastic cheers that surged around the group, both from the people and (strangely enough) their hand-held video games.

"He's going to be weak for a while," the doctor informed him. "He had three cracked ribs, which will take at least a month to heal fully. We'll want to hold on to him for a few days to keep an eye on that stomach injury as well, just in case of infection, and to make sure he's regaining fluids properly. But he'll be fine. He's a very lucky man...I understand the injury happened early this morning?"

"A little after midnight," Yoshino agreed.

At the doctor's puzzled look, Captain Satsuma added calmly, "It was an accident during our company camping trip out in the mountains. That's why it took so long to get him here."

A decent enough cover story, all things considered. Halfway true, even.

"Well, he's lucky to have lived that long," the doctor said, looking over his clipboard. "Very lucky. But there was some fast work there, or he'd have bled out or succumbed to infection much sooner. You owe the man who did it a pay raise, whoever he is."

The captain's lips twitched just slightly in amusement. Tohma blinked in surprise. "I hardly need a raise," he said. He wouldn't know what to do with the extra money anyway—he was already drowning in money enough as it was. "Besides, I have a Ph.D in medicine. I have an obligation to treat people, _especially_ my coworkers."

The doctor blinked in surprise as well, a common enough reaction to a mid-aged teenager claiming a Ph.D. Before he could inquire further, however, Chika pushed forward and asked eagerly, "Can we see him?"

"You may, but not all at once," the doctor said, focusing his attention on Masaru's sister. "He's undoubtedly still asleep from the procedure, and will be for some time, but it's important not to disturb him."

Sayuri and Chika went first, taking Masaru's digivice—and Agumon—with them after he promised not to come out. They were only allowed five minutes, but when they came back to the waiting room the color had returned to their faces, and they seemed in much better cheer. It was one thing to be told by the doctors that Masaru would be okay; it was clearly another thing to see it. The captain offered to take them home personally, since the doctors doubted Masaru would wake for a few hours at least, to give them a chance to freshen up before returning. Apparently they had rushed out of their house at five-fifteen in the morning with the frantic call from DATS about Masaru's health, and it was only then that Tohma realized they were wearing pajamas with jackets hastily thrown over them. They thanked the captain for his kindness, and took Agumon in his digivice home with them for now, promising that they would be back in a few hours and that they would keep the others updated about Masaru's health.

Then it was the agents' turns, two by two. Yoshino and Tohma went first, having been there for the majority of the mess, and entered the room quietly. Yoshino seemed nervous, and Tohma understood in a distant sort of way, but he'd long since gotten used to hospitals after getting his medical license. The captain had used his connections to get Masaru a private room, small but quiet and comfortable, with a window looking out over the harbor.

Tohma didn't care much for that, though, at least not now. Masaru was laid out in the bed, surrounded by a number of machines and connected to a fair amount of tubes and IV drips feeding him fluids. There was a breathing mask strapped carefully over his nose and mouth, and his finger was clipped neatly into a heart monitor device, which beeped with a reassuringly steady, calm rate. From far away the cluster of machines and tubes _looked_ bad, but appearances were misleading, and that was obvious when they got closer. Masaru was asleep, probably from the influx of drugs and painkillers, but his skin had a little color to it again, and his lips and fingertips were no longer a pale blue. He wasn't great, and like the doctor said it would take him a while to recover. But he wasn't dead, either, and actually looked comfortable; one of the nurses had even thoughtfully removed his ponytail and combed through his hair so he wasn't sleeping on it.

"Can he hear us?" Yoshino asked.

"Doubtful," Tohma answered. "With all the procedures and drugs it's highly unlikely he's conscious. But he'll be fine. He already looks like he's making a comeback."

"I'm glad," Yoshino said softly. "That was...that was really, _really_ scary. I didn't think he'd get hit like that..."

"Obviously the idiot has to learn to _aim_ better," Tohma said in exasperation, shaking his head at the weak not-quite-joke. But it was okay to say such things now, with the assurance that Masaru definitely was going to live. "If he's going to insist upon punching giant monsters in the face, he'd better learn to do it_ properly._ Those so-called 'talking fists' of his won't mean anything at all if he really gets himself killed next time."

He could have sworn Masaru frowned just slightly at that. But no, he was probably just imagining things.

"_Next_ time?" Yoshino hissed, barely remembering to keep her voice low. "You don't really think he's crazy enough to go back to fighting digimon after _this?_"

"Please. This is _Masaru_ we're talking about," Tohma said. "He'll just take it as a challenge to get stronger."

"You're probably right," Yoshino said with a sigh. Lalamon chirped her agreement from her digivice.

Their five allotted visitation minutes flew past in a flash, and then the nurse came to shoo them out. They passed Megumi and Miki, waiting anxiously outside, and headed back to the waiting room.

"I'll be heading back with the girls," Yoshino said. "Do you need a ride home?"

"No. I'll call my driver."

"Alright, then," she said. "Get some rest, Tohma. You did a lot of good work today, you definitely deserve the break. Megumi and Miki offered to handle any digimon attacks for the rest of the day, and the captain agreed, so we're off the hook for now."

Under normal circumstances Tohma would have argued. But right now he wanted nothing so bad as a hot shower and his nice, comfortable bed, and so he agreed with a nod, said his goodbyes, and waited for his driver to pick him up and take him away from this whole unfortunate mess.

* * *

When Tohma finally got home, it was close to lunch time. He allowed Gaomon out of his digivice, bathed, ate, and then slept like the dead for almost twelve hours. Gaomon, still injured a bit but valiantly saying nothing, seemed to be of like mind, and paused only long enough to eat before falling into an exhausted stupor after all his hard work in the Digital World.

When he finally woke up close to midnight, he felt much better, if somewhat hazy and stupid from sleeping for so long. Gaomon was already up, and informed his master that Sayuri had called around eight PM with news about Masaru. He had woken briefly, she said, for only a few minutes; he'd been dazed and doped up on painkillers, but he'd been _awake._ The news was a relief to Tohma, who dressed in his spare DATS uniform and had a quick midnight meal with considerably more cheer than he'd had when he went to sleep.

When he was finished, he had his driver bring him to DATS headquarters. There was always somebody there at all hours; indeed, it seemed digimon attacks happened more frequently at night for whatever reason, meaning the station had to be manned even this late. He was sure somebody would be there, and for once he preferred to be in the company of his fellow agents—the only people who could fully understand the scenario—instead of alone in his rooms, twiddling his thumbs and partaking in yet _more_ infernal waiting. At least DATS would provide a distraction, and maybe there would even be a digimon to fight.

As it turned out it was a slow night at DATS, digimon-wise. The entire team was there when he arrived, though—besides Masaru, for obvious reasons—and they all seemed happy to see him. They inquired into his health, and he assured them he was perfectly fine. He and Yoshino explained what had happened since they took the Digital Dive in more detail to the captain and the awed Megumi and Miki, and now that it was over with and everyone would be okay it seemed like a much more thrilling story than it had been when they were living it.

At eight AM Yoshino grabbed her keys and digivice, and announced that visiting hours were open at the hospital. There were still no digimon emergencies, although Megumi and Miki promised to keep them updated should anything surface, so Tohma caught a ride with her. They met up with Sayuri and Chika there, and discovered to everyone's delight that Masaru was doing much better now after being in the hospital for almost twenty-four hours, and that they were allowed to stay in the room with him this time for longer than five minutes.

It was a bit of a squeeze getting everyone in there, especially when Agumon insisted on being let out of his digivice to visit 'Boss' properly this time. Tohma glanced at the charts once and then stood guard discreetly by the doorway, figuring that between keeping an eye out and and knowing the schedule for Masaru's care he'd be able to warn them before Agumon was actually discovered. Sayuri smiled and nodded her thanks quietly, and Yoshino grinned at him before letting Lalamon out as well to keep Agumon company.

Masaru himself was still asleep—not that he would be for long, with _this_ lively bunch, Tohma thought wryly—but he looked much better than he had when Tohma had seen him yesterday. He was hooked up to significantly less tubes than before, and the breathing mask had been removed. His skin was no longer pale, and the dark lines that had been around his eyes were gone, making him look legitimately asleep now and not almost dead. He'd be fine. That was a relief.

Tohma stood guard for an hour while they visited, which mostly consisted of talking to Chika and Sayuri, since Masaru wasn't actually conscious for most of it. He did wake up once, briefly, but he was still groggy and dazed from the painkillers still in his system, and even less of a conversationalist than he usually was. Agumon had nearly thrown a fit over something being wrong with his partner until Tohma hastily reassured him that it was normal and he'd be back to his old self in a day or two when he no longer needed the drugs, and to please _not_ set the hospital machinery on fire as it would only complicate matters. Agumon was placated eventually, just in time for their communicators to beep, signaling for them to rendezvous at a sector across town to deal with a rampaging Monochromon.

So much for visiting hours.

Work kept them busy after that—the Monochromon hadn't been difficult to defeat, but it _had_ done a lot of damage in a rather public area, requiring hours of cover up and memory erasing. By the time they were finished it was almost two in the afternoon. They took a quick break for a late lunch, and then with no other digimon alerts decided to head back to the hospital to check in again.

They were in luck—this time Masaru was awake, and much more alert than before. He couldn't sit up on his own due to the stomach injury, which, even treated and closed, was still bound to be sensitive for a while. But he'd managed to get himself propped up by pillows so he was upright anyway, and had even come across an elastic somewhere to tie his hair back like he usually did. Based on the way he looked over at them eagerly when they stepped into the room, it seemed his vision had fully returned as well after its blackout.

"Hey, Tohma, Yoshino!" he greeted cheerfully. "Good to see you guys! Mom said you stopped by a few times, but I sure as hell haven't seen any sign of you until now!"

"They've been having fun fighting digimon without us," Agumon agreed sullenly. He'd found a short stool and was perched on it near the bed, so that he could rest with his claws on the bedside comfortably.

"Figures," Masaru answered, seemingly without worry, as if he _hadn't_ just been gutted yesterday fighting digimon.

"You're in an awfully good mood," Yoshino said with surprise, raising an eyebrow as she sat on one of the chairs still available. Sayuri and Chika were on the others, still visiting, but Tohma didn't mind standing, and took up the same guard position that he had earlier without complaint.

"Sure!" Masaru answered with a grin. "Why shouldn't I be? I'm alive, right? And I'm totally fine, so what's there to worry about? A fighting spirit like mine isn't gonna get taken down so easily by a few scratches like these!"

Sayuri chuckled slightly, Chika and Yoshino sighed, and Tohma said with exasperation, "Your logic gives me an absolute headache."

Masaru grinned. "They got pills for that here, I bet. You should go ask'em for some." Then his grin became more mischievous, and he turned to Yoshino as he said wickedly, "Hey, wanna see this manly battle scar of mine?"

"Ooooh, don't look, it's really gross," Chika warned. "And my brother is a _total_ jerk about it too." She glared at Masaru warningly, who merely laughed. Yoshino went slightly pale at the offer, and notably scooted further away from the bed.

So began the much more literal visit, when Masaru was actually conscious to appreciate it, and _not_ doped up heavily on opiates. It was just as lively as the time Tohma had visited his household, possibly more so with Yoshino and the rest of the digimon added to the mix (at Chika's request, he had eventually allowed Gaomon to join the impromptu party as well, much to her delight and his embarrassment, and Lalamon was already out). Other than occasional winces when he laughed or shouted too hard, thanks to his ribs and stomach injury, and his obvious weakness when it came to handling objects or moving himself, there was almost no trace of the fact that he'd been close to dead a little over a day ago.

Tohma was content to watch, while quietly keeping an eye on the door, other than the rare occasion when somebody addressed him directly. There was something warm and enjoyable about this lively, caring little family he was slowly becoming a part of, but he wasn't quite ready to dive all the way in just yet; it was a little bit much.

The visit went mostly without mishaps, other than the two occasions when Tohma had just barely managed to warn everyone in time before a nurse came in to check on things. Agumon and Gaomon had been forced to duck behind the bed to hide, and they passed Lalamon off as a stuffed animal brought in as a get-well joke. But before long a nurse poked her head in to tell them that visiting hours would be over in ten minutes, and that they had to think about leaving. Everyone groaned, Masaru loudest of all (he claimed the hospital would be enormously boring without his friends around or interesting fights to participate in). Sayuri and Chika promised to come back first thing tomorrow morning to visit again, and Yoshino added that she and Tohma would stop by if the digimon decided to take a break with their rampaging. The digimon were hidden in their digivices once more, and everyone began to file out, when—

"Tohma. Hey, Tohma! Wait a sec."

Tohma blinked and looked back over his shoulder. Masaru was waving for him to come back for a moment, which Tohma found puzzling. He'd been there for hours, and Masaru hadn't bothered to address him directly until now—what could this possibly be about?

"I'll be waiting outside with the car," Yoshino told him, and everyone else filed out of the room, closing the doors behind them.

Puzzled, Tohma crossed the room and stood near the bed, folding his arms in front of him. "Well? What's this about?"

"My mom and Chika told me about what happened," Masaru explained, "when you guys were out doing DATS stuff. I wanted to say—"

He was interrupted as the door banged open, and a nurse stepped in, saying politely but firmly, "I'm sorry, Mr. Daimon, but visiting hours are finished, and you simply cannot break the rules as you please."

"Screw _that_," Masaru said, with his usual roughshod attitude and I-am-about-to-punch-monsters scowl. "I've got something important to say here, so you can wait. I just need five freaking minutes, okay?"

The nurse sighed. Tohma knew that sigh well—it was the long-suffering sound of a person dealing with an _extremely_ difficult patient, and barely holding it together despite years of professional practice. He sympathized. It was the way he felt every day he worked with Masaru. "Sweetheart, if I could let you have your friends sleep over, I would," she muttered under her breath—Tohma just barely heard it, and Masaru wouldn't at all. "Certainly less trouble for _me_ that way." Out loud, she said with the same polite but firm tone, "Alright. Five minutes. That's _it._"

"You've been making a name for yourself amongst the staff, I see," Tohma observed dryly, when the woman had left and closed the door behind her.

Masaru shrugged, and immediately looked like he regretted it, to judge by his wince. "Not _my_ fault," he said, by way of excuse. "I'm not the one being so damned unreasonable here."

Tohma begged to differ, but they were on a bit of a schedule, so all he said was, "You wanted to say something?"

"Right," Masaru said, and his expression became a little more serious. "Mom and the doctors here said I definitely would've been dead if I hadn't gotten some good treatment ahead of time. They said I was practically dead when I got here. I guess it was handled really well or something. So thanks for that."

Tohma raised an eyebrow. "Why are you thanking me? How do you know it wasn't Yoshino that handled everything?"

Masaru snorted. "Yeah, right! Tohma, she wouldn't even look at my scar, and _that's_ just stitches. No way in hell she'd have been able to deal when it was all open and bleeding and stuff." He laughed at that. Tohma didn't see what was so funny about the situation, but decided Masaru had a point. For once.

" 'sides," Masaru added after another moment, his expression more serious, "I don't really remember a lot past when the Devidramon attacked, but I _do_ remember hearing your voice a lot. Bossing me around and all. But I'm gonna guess you did more than that, based on what everybody else is saying."

"I didn't really," Tohma said truthfully enough. "Not in the long run...just a little first aid. You were _really_ lucky, you know. I don't think you understand quite _how_ lucky. If those claws had hit just a little higher, or gone a little deeper, it would have been over for you. I wouldn't have been able to do anything at all then."

"That's not luck," Masaru said, perfectly straightforward. "That's just a man's fighting spirit shining through. If a man's got more dedication to a fight than his opponent, there's no way he'll ever die."

Tohma could have argued that spirit had nothing to do with it, and medical science certainly begged to differ, but Masaru was already speaking again. "But besides that," the teen said, very seriously, "I'm gonna thank you _anyway,_ 'cause whether or not you believe you did anything, everybody _else_ seems to think I'd be dead without your help and your quick acting. And as the number one street-fighter in Japan, I've got enough honor to know when somebody saved my life, and to recognize that I owe them a debt. So you can bet I'll be there to pay ya back when the time comes, Tohma."

The look in his eyes was intense, and Tohma was a little floored by it—and, he had to admit, the tiniest bit touched by the declaration. After all the shame and backstabbing and abandonment that he'd dealt with in the Norstein family, it was almost a relief to have somebody tell him straight-up that his efforts had been recognized—and even more importantly, that they were worth repaying, because somebody actually bothered to care. Masaru could be a bull-headed, thoughtless, idiotic excuse for a human being most of the time, but Tohma was starting to realize that he was the trustworthy sort, and not so bad after all.

Of course, he couldn't admit to such a thing out loud, so all he said was, "Is that so? And do_ you_ have a medical degree, if I somehow get it into my head to abandon all reason and charge down an angry digimon, only to get myself nearly sliced in two?"

Masaru smirked. "Nope! But hell, I'd carry you all the way to a hospital on my back if I had to. That's just how it is when a man owes somebody his life, you know?"

Tohma snorted. "And I expect you would have simply punched a hole in the air to create a Digital Gate back to the real world, if it came to such necessities."

"Sure, if that's what it takes." He appeared to have said it with perfect sincerity as well. Maybe he thought he really _could_ punch a hole cross dimensionally. With Masaru, it was sometimes hard to tell...this was the same person who thought punching out digimon with large teeth and claws was a good idea, after all.

Tohma was confounded, and merely shook his head, saying, "A kind enough offer, but if it's all the same to you, I certainly hope I never have to take you up on it. Personally, I prefer to _avoid_ near death experiences." He paused, and as the nurse finally opened the door again to insistently shoo him out, he added over his shoulder, "But...it _is_ a reassuring thought, to know that the offer is there all the same."

Masaru just grinned.

* * *

And there we have it! One adventure completed :)

~VelkynKarma


End file.
